Counting Orange Cars: Mindfulness Matters

Counting Orange Cars: Mindfulness Matters

Do you ever tire of others telling you to think about what you want, to focus on what you want to happen…the “I think I can” approach? My hairdresser is notorious for this. I am completely gray and have been since my earlier 30’s, it’s genetic…thanks dad. I always whine to him wondering why I shouldn’t just go natural and stop dying my hair. He always responds with the same reply that although I would still be beautiful (how I do love him!) it would age me ten years…so, I have to find a husband first. Seriously?! That topic is for another blog post. I always jokingly (because I know it irks him) reply, “well that will never happen, so you are stuck with me forever.” And then he responds with frustration that such thoughts are not what I should be putting out into the world. True?…Do the thoughts that we put out into the world influence what actually happens?

Or maybe the thoughts that we put out influence how we view the world and what we pay attention to. I had a colleague offer similar guidance, asking me how many orange cars I had seen in the previous week. Orange cars?!…Most likely none. Yet, I could not be certain. I was not looking for orange cars.

So, for the next few days I did an experiment and looked for orange cars. Granted, orange cars are not common yet can you believe that I saw four. I suppose this does support that our worldview is influenced by what we pay attention to. So sit down and think about what you want to happen in your life, bring awareness to it, and then actively seek it. Let me know what you find!

“The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.” – Unknown